With the latest set of international games behind us, it is time to move ahead and experience the thrills of club football as the Premier League returns this weekend.
Defending champions Leicester travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday to face a Chelsea side that has begun the season on a similar note as the Foxes. Both sides have been plagued by defensive errors and are currently languishing mid-table but will be hoping that the International break can serve as a catalyst in reversing their respective fortunes.
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Both the teams have garnered a meagre 7 points out of the possible 15 in their last 5 league games and will be looking forward to eking out a positive result in order to climb higher on a table that already looks congested at the top.
In this segment, we bring to you 3 key battles from the game to come at Stamford Bridge that could largely determine the result.
#1 Eden Hazard & Diego Costa vs Wes Morgan and Robert Huth
An issue that has plagued Leicester this season is their inability to keep the opposition from scoring. The side that had the second tightest defence in the league last season alongside Arsenal have already shipped 11 goals thus far managing just 3 clean sheets.
While Chelsea themselves have not been tidy in defence, their attack and in particular Diego Costa has been in electrifying form, scoring 6 goals in 7 appearances and has been effectively aided by a rejuvenated Eden Hazard, who seems to have regained his mojo at the club.
With both the players scoring goals for their respective nations in the recently concluded World Cup qualifiers, the Blues will be hoping that they can carry on that good form into the league games.
It will be interesting to see how the pair of Wes Morgan and former Chelsea player Robert Huth, who seem to operate on different frequencies on numerous occasions handle the duo.
With 8 goals and 2 assists in between them, they could inflict great misery on Leicester with their abilities and it would be wise of the Leicester centre-backs to ensure that neither of them is afforded time and space to operate in.
#2 N’Golo Kante vs Danny Drinkwater
N’Golo Kante had been phenomenal for Leicester last season and seems to have carried his good form to Stamford Bridge, putting in numerous eye-catching performances. The Frenchman has proved to be a solid presence in the midfield, breaking the opposition’s rhythm frequently with a mixture of tackles and interceptions and has often spared his side the blushes since arriving at the club.
On Saturday, he goes head to head with his former teammate Danny Drinkwater, who seems to be having a good season despite his club’s form. The departure of Kante to Chelsea has offered him a larger role at the club and he is flourishing being the main man in the midfield.
Both men love a fight in the middle of the park and we expect the game to be a feisty affair. The athleticism and abilities of both the players as rock solid midfielders will definitely be expected to come to the forefront.
While their destroying abilities grab the highlights, they are both capable of dictating the tempo of the game and we believe it will largely come down to which of the two midfielders can dictate the tempo of the game to their team’s advantage.
#3 Jamie Vardy and Islam Slimani vs John Terry and Gary Cahill
In what can be termed as good news for the Chelsea faithful, captain John Terry is expected to be back for the game to partner Gary Cahill at the centre of the defence. However, the presence of the Chelsea captain might not prove to be enough to contain the duo of Islam Slimani and Jamie Vardy, who have tormented defences with the combination of pace and skill on the ball.
Despite the duo not yet gelling properly, they still form a formidable pairing up front. While the fact that they are yet to reach a proper understanding might come as a consolation to the hopeful Chelsea fans, their pace on and off the ball might prove to be a tad too much to handle for the ageing John Terry and error prone Cahill and should the Leicester attackers take the chances that come their way, Chelsea could have an uphill task ahead of them.
One man who will be hoping that the Chelsea back line can put their act together is their manager Antonio Conte, who prides himself on setting up tight defences. However, with the quality of the opposition, we expect Thibaut Courtois to be under constant pressure and it will take a top draw effort from the centre-backs to help the side to their third clean sheet of the season.
